Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Novikov, Anatoly Grigor'yevich

(b Skopino, 30 Oct 1896; d Moscow, 23 Sept 1984). Russian composer. He attended the historical philology faculty of the Moscow Teaching Institute, concurrently studying at the conservatory with Aleksandr Krein (cello), Paskhalov (composition) and Podgoretsky (choral conducting). Glièrè gave him further composition lessons. He directed army amateur choirs and orchestras (1928–38), collaborated with A.V. Aleksandrov in the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble and was a deputy of the supreme soviet of the RSFSR. He gave his attention entirely to mass songs, which have achieved popularity in the USSR. They are marked by patriotic themes, epic breadth, warm sincerity and features of Russian folk music. The Gimn demokraticheskoy molodyozhi mira (‘Hymn of the Democratic Youth of the World’) achieved broader fame. His honours included the title People’s Artist of the RSFSR, the Order of Lenin and the State Prize.

WORKS

(selective list of songs)

1930s–1940s: Gimn demokraticheskoy molodyozhi mira [Hymn of the Democratic Youth of the World] (L. Oshanin), Partizanskaya dumka [Partisan Thought] (Ya. Shvedov), Pesnya mira [Song of Peace] (Oshanin), Pesnya o Chapayeve (S. Bolotin), Pesnya o novoy Moskve (S. Vasil'yev), Pesnya pro Kotovskogo (Ye. Bagritsky), Samovarïsamoplï (S. Alïmov), Vasya-Vasilek (Alïmov)

1950s: Belaya beryoza [White birch] (Vasil'yev), Dusha naroda – partiya moya [The Soul of the Nation – my Party] (Oshanin), Marsh kommunisticheskikh brigad (V. Kharitonov), Pesnya moskovskikh studentov (Oshanin)

1960s–1970s: Gde-to ot zastavï za verstu [Somewhere a Verst from the Gates] (Kharitonov), Marsh kosmonavtov (Yu. Kamenetsky), Oblaka [Clouds] (P. Gradov), Pesnya russkogo serdtsa [Song of the Russian Heart] (Oshanin), U mavzoleya [At the Mausoleum] (R. Selyanin), U menya sem'ya bol'shaya [With my Great Family] (Gradov), Vernïye brat'ya [Faithful Brothers] (M. Vershinin)

Russ. folksong arrs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Sokhor: ‘Anatoli Novikov, master massovoy pesni’ [Novikov, master of mass song], SovM (1955), no.12, p.56

Anatoliy Novikov: stat’i, retsenzii, vospominaniya [Anatoly Novikov: Articles, reviews, reminiscences] (Moscow, 1982)

G. Polyanovsky: Anatoliy Novikov (Moscow, 1987)

GALINA GRIGOR'YEVA

Novo Portu, Francisco de.

See Mergot, Franciscus.

Novotná, Jarmila

(b Prague, 23 Sept 1907; d New York, 9 Feb 1994). Czech soprano. She studied in Prague with Emmy Destinn, and later in Milan. She made her début in Prague as Mařenka in The Bartered Bride in June 1925. In 1928 she sang Gilda at the Verona Arena, and from 1933 to 1938 sang at the Vienna Staatsoper, making regular appearances at Salzburg as Octavian, Eurydice, Countess Almaviva, Pamina, and Frasquita in Wolf's Der Corregidor. In Vienna she created the title role in Lehár's Giuditta opposite Richard Tauber. Her American début was as Butterfly at San Francisco in 1939, and she was a valued member of the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1956 where her repertory included Donna Elvira, Pamina, Octavian, Violetta, Freia and Mélisande. She returned to Europe after World War II and was heard again at Salzburg, in Paris and in Vienna. She appeared in The Merry Widow in San Francisco and on Broadway in the title role of Korngold's adaptation of La belle Hélène. Her recordings, which range from her early years in Prague to her postwar Salzburg Rosenkavalier, evince her charm and interpretative depth as well as occasional flaws in technique. She also made an evocative wartime recording of Czech and Slovak folksongs accompanied by the exiled Czech premier Jan Masaryk.

HAROLD ROSENTHAL/ALAN BLYTH

Novotni [Novotny], Franz [Ferenc; Francesco] Anton

(b ?1749; d Pécs, 5 Nov 1806). Composer of Bohemian descent. He may have been a relative of Franz Nikolaus Novotný (1743–73), though this surname was extremely common. He studied with Leopold Kozeluch in Vienna, then moved to Pécs, south Hungary, in April 1782 to replace the deceased Bálint Depisch as composer and musician at the episcopal court of Count Pál László Esterházy. In 1800 he became Kapellmeister, and in 1805 he oversaw the complete rebuilding of the cathedral organ. Novotny’s compositions survive in Austrian (A-Wn) and Hungarian (H-Bn) archives. The collection from Pécs includes some 20 masses, graduals, motets, vespers and offertories and also two symphonies (both ed. in The Symphony 1720–1840, ser. B, xii, New York, 1984), all in the standard forms, styles and orchestration of the time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

K. Bárdos: Pécs zenéje a 18. században [Music at Pécs in the 18th century] (Budapest, 1976)

DOROTTYA FÁBIÁN SOMORJAY

Novotný [Novittni, Novotni, Nowotny], Franz Nikolaus

(b Eisenstadt, 6 Dec 1743; d Eisenstadt, 25 Aug 1773). Organist and composer of Bohemian descent. Both his grandfather and his father were in the service of the Esterházy family as court officials and musicians, the former as a bass singer and the latter, Johann Novotný (1718–65), as organist. F.N. Novotný worked in the court treasury and succeeded his father as organist on 30 August 1765. His compositions, including much church music, were esteemed by Haydn and performed by him. Many works survive in Austrian, Hungarian, German, Czech and Italian archives (particularly A-Ee, Ek, Wgm, Wn and D-SWl), identified only by surname.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MGG1 (J. Harich)

M. Poštolka: Joseph Haydn a naše hudba 18. století (Prague, 1961)

U. Tank: Studien zur Esterházyschen Hofmusik von etwa 1620 bis 1790 (Regensburg, 1981)

CAMILLO SCHOENBAUM